The vascular system is critical infrastructure that transports oxygen and nutrients around
the body, and dynamically adapts its function to an array of environmental changes. To fulfil the
demands of diverse organs, each with unique functions and requirements, the vascular system
displays vast regional heterogeneity as well as specialized cell types. Our understanding of the
heterogeneity of vascular cells and the molecular mechanisms that regulate their function is beginning
to benefit greatly from the rapid development of single cell technologies. Recent studies have started
to analyze and map vascular beds in a range of organs in healthy and diseased states at single
cell resolution. The current review focuses on recent biological insights on the vascular system
garnered from single cell analyses. We cover the themes of vascular heterogeneity, phenotypic
plasticity of vascular cells in pathologies such as atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease, as well
as the contribution of defective microvasculature to the development of neurodegenerative disorders
such as Alzheimer’s disease. Further adaptation of single cell technologies to study the vascular
system will be pivotal in uncovering the mechanisms that drive the array of diseases underpinned by
vascular dysfunction.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:DRESDEN/oai:qucosa:de:qucosa:89421 |
| Date | 30 January 2024 |
| Creators | Bondareva, Olga, Sheikh, Bilal N. |
| Publisher | MDPI |
| Source Sets | Hochschulschriftenserver (HSSS) der SLUB Dresden |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion, doc-type:article, info:eu-repo/semantics/article, doc-type:Text |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
| Relation | 4688, 10.3390/ijms21134688 |
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